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Looks like I am in a minority. [It's the same at home: my wife comes back from playing tennis, complains about the pain in her shoulder, slaps some Ibuleve on it, and is back on the tennis court two days later. But at least she is using the pain-killer after, not before or during, the sport.]

It's not just a matter of age – I am the same age as Wheeze – it's more to do with the importance of running in one's life. I love running, but if my body tells me that it is damaged, I won't risk exacerbating the injury by going for a run anyway with pain-killers to temporarily hide the damage. If it's an injury I've had before, I probably know the exercises to deal with it; otherwise I may see a physio (more expensive than a few packs of Ibuprofen, but more effective). And most running injuries still allow me to go out cycling or walking, although I have to admit that I probably would get very irritable if I was unable to get any kind of exercise in the fresh air for more than a few days.

My body certainly won't be handed back to its Maker in "pristine unworn" condition. But I do want to keep it functioning reasonably well for as long as possible: it's a matter of pacing oneself (something that I am supremely bad at in races!). So I tolerate the slight discomfort that my Achilles tendons give me on most runs, but I would have retired from Travs's 42-mile race and I would have given RTS's knee a rest from running for a few weeks.